


Deer Prongslet

by minniethecatt



Series: Minerva Potter 'verse [11]
Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: BABY HARRY WITH SIRIUS, Bittersweet, Cute, Established Relationship, F/M, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Gen, James Potter writing a letter to Harry MY HEART IS CRYING, Letters, Light Angst, Marauders, Marauders Era (Harry Potter), Marauders Friendship (Harry Potter), Prongs and Prongslet, Sirius Black & James Potter Friendship, Swearing, album, early july 2020, harry being a sap, james being the cutest ever, jamie baby deserved better, jily, minnie - Freeform, minnieverse
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-27
Updated: 2020-10-27
Packaged: 2021-03-08 18:33:39
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,340
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27231286
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/minniethecatt/pseuds/minniethecatt
Summary: Minnie is bored on a summer day. Waiting for her dad to come back home she finds herself going through the album that Remus and Sirius left at their house during Christmas break. She finds a special gift inside, from a special someone and lets Harry have his time with it.(Early July 2020, the quarantine has happened).
Relationships: Harry Potter/Ginny Weasley, James Potter/Lily Evans Potter, Sirius Black/Remus Lupin
Series: Minerva Potter 'verse [11]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1734163
Kudos: 20





	Deer Prongslet

Minnie was finally free: her fourth year at Hogwarts had gone well, despite the whole quarantine situation. She had gotten closer to her dorm mate Victoria, they had started to spend a lot of time together that year, as they both were part of the Gryffindor Quidditch team, but continued to keep up with each other when they were all sent home. They parted ways at the station promising to spend time together during the summer. She thought about Vic and a smile immediately appeared on her lips. She heard a sound coming from her phone and saw that Xerxes had texted her, asking if she wanted to come over to his house for dinner. She loved her best friend’s family, she had known them for years and they always felt like a second family to her, so she was happy to see them anytime she could. She and Xerxes had been attached to the hip since their first day at Hogwarts and even if they were in separate houses they always found time for each other, even if it meant breaking a few rules to do it. She replied accepting the invite and texted her father, telling him that she would go to Xerxes’ house later in the afternoon.

She waited a couple of minutes and a reply arrived “ _Yes, sure, honey. I will be home in a couple of hours anyway xx_ ”

She went into the living room, just chilling out on the couch, when her eye laid down on the coffee table in front of her: there were a few books and magazines left around, but under the pile something stood out: it was the photo album her grandfathers had brought during Christmas break, full of memories of their youth, the Marauders and her grandmother Lily goofing around.

She picked it up, went back to the couch and put it on her legs.

On the first few pages there were pictures from the group’s Hogwarts days: her three grandfathers with their then-friend Peter Pettigrew in their dorm room, James with a tie around his head during one of their Gryffindor parties. There was one in which Sirius and James were sitting together, with their heads close, clearly conspiring some prank and Remus and Lily, on the other side of the picture, were sitting together too, but they were looking at those two boys with a knowing smile on their faces and pure love in their eyes. She was almost tearing up as if she was breaking a sacred moment captured in that picture, but smile at the thought of her grandparents together and full of happiness. She turned around a few more pages and got to James and Lily’s wedding, but she had already seen them when they got the album, she turned another page and she was met with something unexpected: a picture of her father, maybe even the first one, taken on 31st July 1980, the day he was born. Under it she found written “ _Baby Harry – 31 st July 1980_”. It was just a little red bundle of blankets with a big Gryffindor crest printed on it and a little head topped by a few messy black locks of hair peaking out. Her father was in his mother’s arms, who had smile on her face that just eradiated the happiness she was feeling. The picture was shaking a bit, so she imagined her grandfather too emotional to function and trembling for glee. Then there was a full Evans-Potter family picture, probably taken by Sirius and another one that brought a little tear to her eyes. It was a picture of Sirius, seated on one of St. Mungos chairs, with his hair tied in a bun and his eyes laying only on his godson. He had a serious – no pun intended – expression on his face, but his posture was relaxed, and then the picture moved and you could see tears of happiness threatening to come out and a big smile forming on his lips. It was the epitome of bliss. She knew that probably her father had not seen any of these, she couldn’t wait for him to come home so that she could show them to him.

There were a few with her grandparents, a cute one of Harry sleeping on Remus’s chest who was also napping on the couch and the little boy’s puffy hand kept on his uncle’s face. But mostly it was just a photoshoot of Harry doing nothing and everything, tons of pages full of little pictures of her father either sleeping, eating, crying or playing with anything that was around him. She then got to 31st July 1981 and saw a set of pictures of just Lily, James and Harry together on his first birthday and the best one was the one in which Harry was trying to get on a little flying broomstick that just was not cooperating with him and he looked so confused by it, what a Gryffindor he was through and through. She went to turn the page but found the page to be heavier than the others and quite thick too. It was as if it were two pages glued together. She took a paper knife they always left around to open letters and tried to see if there was something laying inside the pages. With a bit of patience and attention as she had to leave the album intact she finally got to open the two pages. They were actually glued together because there was a folded piece of paper. Out of curiosity she took it and saw that with a messy handwriting someone had written _For Harry_ on the outside. She carefully placed the photobook down and took the paper in her hands. She unfolded it and found out it was actually a letter addressed to her father.

_31 st July 1981_

_Deer ~~Prongslet~~ Harry (two deer puns in the introduction may be a bit too much),_

_This is your father talking. Wow, this is weird. Father, what a big word for a dumb kid who was making shitty pranks until a couple of years ago – by the time you might read this you should already be an adult so I can swear in this, right? Well, I’ll take the risk._

_As I was saying, I am your father. James. James ~~Fleamont~~ Potter to be precise. And I want to tell you here and now that being your father is the best thing that could ever happen to me. ~~~~_

_No one knows I’m writing you this, because I’m doing it as a precaution. These times are so fucking rough to live through, I have to admit it, but whenever I turn around I see you and your mother and my heart just explodes with love, because the life we have, the family we’re building, is what brings me the most joy. Am I going crazy quarantined at home because that fucking arse of Voldemort wants to kill us since fucking Snivellus went to him and told him the Prophecy? Of fucking course. I solemnly swear if I ever find myself face to face to him again- but, we’re not here to talk about any of this._

_We’re here because you’re reading this, and if you actually are it means that I’m no longer in this world and Merlin I hope your mother still is, but I cannot be sure about that, so I’m going to speak for the both of us. In the last few weeks you started “talking” more and more and you finally were able to pronounce something that sounded like Dada, after calling Lily Mama for the past few months (I love you, but you were being a lil shit about that), so what I will say is that Dada and Mama love you._

_We just opened your present from Padfoot and you’re loving it. I really cannot wait to come to your Quidditch matches, because I know you will make me a proud dad by being the younger seeker of the century or something. I would be proud nonetheless, though, just so you know that._

_I know that this looks so messy, but hey, this is what my brain is producing right now. The truth is that I’m just a 21-year-old lad, I have no fucking clue of what should be “proper” to say, I just want you to know that we’re holding on to dear life to get through this, but that we would give our chance to live away if it meant that you would be able to live, in a heartbeat._

_We love you more than words can express and whatever happens I hope you will be able to be proud of us._

_As I’m trying to close this letter I see you in Lily’s arms, who took you away from that broomstick for a while and I could not be luckier to have you two in my life. I would literally trade my life for both of you._

_On a lighter note, after a year I’m quite happy we called you Harry, Elvendork would have been too long and exhausting to say every time._

_I love you, little one_

_James_

Minnie was full on crying by the end of the letter. Her grandfather was just _so_ young and still so full of life even if the situation they found themselves in was not ideal, at all. She didn’t hear the front door of the house closing so she was alarmed when she saw her father beside her, with a worried face.

“Min, honey. What is it? Has something happened? Why are you crying?”

She just wasn’t able to make words come out of her mouth, so she just hugged him tight. He was caressing her hair and after a while she looked up to him.

“I found something”

“And what was it that made you like this?”

“I was looking inside the album grandads gave us and I got to see some pictures from where you were a newborn, with Grandma and Grandpa, you know?”

Harry nodded, expecting his daughter to continue “Yes, I still have to see some actually”

“Yes, I imagined that because you had never talked about some of them. Anyway, I got to the pics of your first birthday-”

“Am I on a broomstick?” he asked with a little smirk on his lips.

“Yes! But please let me finish first.” She looked at him seriously and proceeded “So, as I was saying, I got to the pictures of your first birthday and I noticed a page that felt too thick and heavy under my fingers, so I found out it was two pages glued together with a secret letter placed between the two”

“A secret letter?”

“Yes, Dad. It’s addressed to you”

“To me?”

“Yes! It’s from Grandpa James and-well, I think you should see for yourself”

That last bit of information had left Harry speechless. He had long ago made peace with the fact that his parents would never be by his side physically, but that he could feel their love anyway, but this kind of stuff always got to him. When he was 17 he found a letter written from his mother and that gave him strength during that difficult time, but more than 20 years later finding out his father had left something specifically for him made him nervous, in a good way.

With his hands shaking he took it from Minnie’s hands and started reading.

He was already crying after the introduction. He snorted at every swear word and when James wrote the word Snivellus, but then cried again at the mention of Mama and Dada and laughed while crying when he discovered his father wanted to call him Elvendork. This letter was just like an emotional rollercoaster for Harry, as he had never really had something from his dad, besides the Invisibility Cloak, but nothing that actually screamed JAMES POTTER HERE and, even after almost 40 years of waiting, this was the best present he could ever receive in advance for his birthday.

He looked at his daughter, who had tears in her eyes again and smiled at her, while still being a crying mess. He opened his arms and she hugged him again.

“You know” he murmured “when I used the Resurrection Stone in the forest I asked my parents to stay with me, and I can remember dad saying _Until the very end_ , which is something that I always try to remind to myself whenever I miss them. But this was the thing that gave me actual proof he and I existed at the same time. I just don’t know how to process it exactly”

“Dad, it’s just how he said to you that time. Until the very end, they will always be here, with you and with us, do not worry”

“When did you get so wise?” he asked her with a broken voice, but a little smile on his lips.

“I learnt from the best” she replied with a twinkle in her eyes.

“Remus” they said in unison, then looked at each other and laughed.

“C’mon” Harry said “let’s have some comfort chocolate as our Remus would say”

“Well it looks to me like you’re right”

They put the letter and the album on the coffee table and went into the kitchen.

Minnie was feeling warm all over, a boring afternoon turned out to be an emotional discovery. She loved her grandparents and reading that letter made her feel so loved. She felt so lucky to still have (almost) her entire family with her and promised to herself that the memory of James and Lily Potter would never be forgotten. She turned to look at her father and smiled, she had never seen him this way, but was so happy he was finally able to experience it.

She would never forget them, as she felt they were with her and with all of them too, until the very end.

**Author's Note:**

> The Minerva Potter Universe is the world in which if Harry and Ginny had had another daughter she would be called Minerva for sure! Moreover, in this universe Sirius and Remus live, they're now both 60 years old (in 2020) and love taking care of their grandchildren. All the other things from canon are still the same.  
> You can follow @minniethecatt on Twitter to get first access to the content and other gems!  
> [We own no character written by J.K. Rowling]


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